Salvation Army Gospel Arts Concert

Royal Albert Hall
Saturday 3rd June

Special guests for the Salvation Army's 2006 Gospel Arts Concert at the Royal Albert Hall were the Montclair Citadel Band from New Jersey, under their bandmaster Charles Baker.  They marched down the steps, through the arena and up onto the platform in two lines, one headed by their own band flag and one led by the Stars and Stripes, accompanied by the International Staff Band playing Sousa's march of the same name, initially at a steady pace then speeding up for the final (abridged) section once the bandsmen (and women) had taken their places. 

They received a warm welcome from the audience, which did not seem so large as usual this year, and launched straight into their signature march "Montclair Citadel", written a few years ago for them by Stephen Bulla.  Whether affected by the sense of occasion, the cramped seating arrangements or the very different acoustic, their rendition seemed rather muffled, lacking the clarity of their midweek concert in Worthing.  With only two percussionists of their own, they benefited from the assistance of one of the ISB players, who contributed the telling glockenspiel part, and the band seemed to have grown in confidence somewhat by the time they reached the closing bars with their positive rendition of "Onward, Christian soldiers".

With no massed songster brigades again this year, the choral contributions rested with the International Staff Songsters, directed by Dorothy Nancekievill, and their singing of Mark Hayes's contemporary setting of "I surrender all" led fittingly into the prayer offered by Colonel Vic Poke.

After the various participants had been introduced, the International Staff Band presented William Himes' "Cause for Celebration".  This bright item uses the tune associated with the words "Praise God from whom all blessings flow", initially taking phrases and intervals from the melody before the tune appears in full in the latter stages.  The sound of the ISB was much brighter than their American comrades, not least as a result of the trombone section's effective contribution.

Principal Cornet Michael Baker is no stranger to the UK, having appeared with the New York Staff Band on their last visit to these shores.  He was featured as soloist in Douglas Court's Latin-American influenced "Standing on the Promises".  Starting on flugel, and demonstrating a very fluid, jazz-influenced approach, he switched to trumpet for the second half, his bright sound carrying clearly across the hall and communicating well with the audience.

Montclair Band followed this with Mark Freeh's arrangement of the "Concertino, Op 94" by Dmitri Shostakovich, the centenary of whose birth is being celebrated this year.  Written originally in 1953 for Dmitri and his son Maxim (then aged 15) to play on two pianos, it translated well to brass, becoming something of a showcase for the whole band, not least Montclair's fine bass section.  There are considerable patches of unison playing, and this was where the band demonstrated what a well-drilled combination they are, whilst the soloists all rose to the occasion, including soprano player Ronald Waiksnoris and Aaron VanderWeele, bandmaster and principal euphonium respectively of the New York Staff Band.  There were signs of puzzlement as Salvationists in the audience spotted the similarity between one of the main themes, and the Salvation Army song "Marching Along".

In addition to her responsibilities with the Staff Songsters, Dorothy Nancekievill is also Director of Music at Wells Cathedral School, which has naturally had an influence on the repertoire used with the group.  For the opening movement of John Rutter's early "Gloria" they were joined by Bandmaster Michael Clack on organ, additional percussion from the ISB and an eight-piece brass group led by Jonathan Corry.  The brass in particular had a prominent role to play, with some very exposed lines and solo entries, and this definitely contributed to the success of this item.  For their second song in this set, they presented June Collins' "The Quiet heart", making much of the harmonic clashes and sustaining the lines beautifully, although it did seem a little on the slow side.

The first half concluded with the ISB presenting Kenneth Downie's "St Magnus", which is a regular feature in their current programmes. Despite its origin as a test piece, and the undoubted difficulties it presents to both players and listeners, the presence of a familiar tune helps in making it accessible to an audience at an event such as the Gospel Arts Concert, and even those listeners who would not have appreciated the more technical aspects could pick out the tune in its various guises. 

From the opening duet between Gary Fountain and Philip Cobb their reading was confident and positive, if lacking the final touch of finesse that one may expect to find on the contest stage.  The percussion were on good form, including the vibraphone part on this occasion, although they were rather stretched out behind the band, the timpani in particular suffering a little from this.  The unison runs from the cornets were accomplished very cleanly, and it seemed that the euphonium cadenza could have been tailor-made for Derick Kane, whose restrained approach paid dividends.  The warm reception from the audience definitely vindicated the decision to include it on the programme, and the considerable rehearsal time spent preparing it for performance.

The second half commenced with a worship session led by Ira Thomas of the Music Ministries Unit, with the support of an accomplished group of singers and instrumentalists.  Using a somewhat up-beat setting of "Crown him with many crowns" (with what seemed rather a strange instrumental break in the middle) and the more reflective song "The Splendour of the King" they worked hard to encourage participation from the audience, a task which may have been easier had they not been tucked away on the floor of the arena, rather than in a more commanding position on the stage.

The ISB's final solo contribution was "El est el Senor" by the up and coming Dean Jones.  A setting of the song "Show your power", it uses a Latin-American idiom, complete with paso doble style interludes reminiscent of the bullring, and mariachi-style trumpeting – played effectively enough on cornet by Kevin Ashman, later joined in duet by Philip Cobb, although it may be worth considering using trumpets instead for that little extra authenticity.  The percussion section certainly enjoyed themselves, and it seems that Dean has produced another hit.

The ISS then brought two songs in total contrast: Joseph Martin's "Let Christ be lifted up" is an inspiring modern anthem, and made quite an impression, despite a suspicion that the group had been slightly over-miked, the sound being a little breathy.  Their second song was a vocalisation of Richard Phillips' ragtime improvisation on "Count your blessings", with Staff Songster Melanie Ellis joining regular accompanist Amanda Batt to provide the piano duet accompaniment.  It certainly set toes tapping, and is likely to prove a popular addition to the repertoire.

The vocal soloist for the evening was Darren Bartlett, Songster Leader at Boscombe Corps, whose attendance was threatened by recent illness, but who showed little sign of strain as he presented his items.  Accompanying himself at the piano, he first sang his own contemporary arrangement of "What a friend we have in Jesus", as recently featured in a "Songs of Praise" broadcast.  He then relinquished his seat at the piano for a moving rendition of "Gethsemane" from "Jesus Christ, Superstar".  Starting off with piano accompaniment, he was later joined by the ISS and ISB as he depicted Christ's agony in the evening before the crucifixion.  The struggle was well conveyed, although one felt that ideally his microphone should have been turned up a notch at the climax, or the band toned down a little, as he was slightly over-powered.

William Gordon's lively march "Salvation's Song" was written for the USA Western Territory's Music Institute in 1981, featuring the tunes "I'm so happy, here's the reason why" and "The bells of St Mary's", associated with the words "We'll sing in the morning the songs of Salvation".  The sense of joy was apparent in the playing, with crisp rhythms, flowing runs and incisive syncopations, an excellent contribution from the bass trombone throughout, and the euphoniums making the most of their countermelodies.

In addition to being an insightful poet and lyricist, retired General John Gowans is also renowned for his powerful renditions of scripture.  Various linked texts under the subject of "Love so amazing" were presented, effectively assisted by the contemporary music group and professional dancer Gemma Evans.

Darren Bartlett's final contribution, accompanied by the ISB in swing mode, was "We've come this far by faith", an uplifting and challenging anthem of praise with references to various Biblical characters.

Following an 80th birthday celebration in his honour the previous evening at the Regent Hall, Lt Colonel Norman Bearcroft took the baton to lead the combined forces in the concluding congregational song, his own five-verse setting of the tune "Richmond" ("O for a thousand tongues").  The congregational joined in heartily, even if neither bands not singers seemed ready to respond to his desire to speed things up a little, and it ended the evening on a fitting note of praise.

Peter Bale

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